Ivor Davey - Dairy Housing and Design - (+44)07751 050158

Ventilation systems

Curtains or fans?

We prefer natural ventilation where possible. This means we will aim to design a building which maximises the air movement when full of cows.

The key aim is to replace the moisture laden air (from respiration), with cool fresh air. The optimum temperature for a dairy cow is around 5C, so this is critical to maximise production and welfare in the building. The cooler the cow, the more she lays down, and the more milk she will produce.

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There are two main ways of moving air naturally. These are either:

'stack effect' through the ridge or roof, with cool replacement air coming in the sides.

also using natural 'wind' blowing through the building, so removing the warm, moist air.

We also advise on renovating existing systems and supplying fans to meet these requirements.

Curtains

When natural ventilation is proving difficult, fans can be a huge benefit.

CowPlan are proud to work with world-wide market leading manufacturers TopCool, and their European distributor Magdek.

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TopCool are market leaders globally, and offer fans designed specifically for the animal housing sector. This means we are able to offer tailored solutions in order to ventilate old and new buildings effectively. The range covers options from young calves to milking cows.

CowPlan also offer the full range of Wilson AgricultureHVLS (high volume, low speed) fans. These are the large, ‘whale fin’ design ventilation fans

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One of the great recent innovations in dairy ventilation is the very large (up to 7.5 meter (24 foot) diameter) HVLS ceiling fans. Envira-North Systems manufactures the Altra-Air series of ceiling fans. Envira-North is the only manufacturer of this type of fan in Canada and the only manufacturer in the world using WhalePower Technology.

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This technology means the 7.5m Altra-Air fan moves 395,000 cfm over 60 to 70 ft area, which is much cheaper and much more energy efficient then multiple box fans as seen in many barns hanging from posts and ceilings. The Altra-Air fan slowly moves and mixes massive amounts of air creating a more homogenous ambient climate for all forms of livestock. The animals sense an overall breeze, not an evasive direct blast of air.

These very large Altra-Air fans draw the warmer air from the upper ceiling areas mixing it with the lower regions of air moderating temperatures. Farmers also notice a significant drop in flies along with much dryer beds and alleyways due to this overall air movement.

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Working with Wilson Agriculture, we can offer a full range of ventilation curtains to suit most buildings. For the UK market we consider it important to keep these simple, strong and effective. Please ask for more information.